Outcome-based student assessment enhances academic performance in basic medical laboratory course.

Basic medical laboratory courses (BMLCs) play an important role in medical educational courses helping the student acquire three important skills of surgical operating, collaborative learning, and problem solving. The outcome-based student assessment (OBSA) is a learning evaluation method that establishes specific evaluation points based on performance of students in three aspects: surgical operating, collaborative learning, and problem solving in the BMLC curriculum practices. The purpose of the present randomized controlled trial study is to explore the efficiency of OBSA program in BMLCs. The 233 students attending BMLCs were randomly divided into 2 groups, 118 in the OBSA group and 115 in the control group. We conducted multiple-choice examination questions (MCQs) test and two questionnaires with the method of two-sample t test for statistics. The results of MCQs in total eight BMLC blocks showed that the academic performance of the OBSA group was significantly better than that of the control group (P < 0.05). In addition, the average scores of direct observation of procedural skills (DOPS) and mini-experimental evaluation exercise in OBSA group were significantly higher than those in control group (P < 0.05). The majority of the medical students preferred the OBSA and considered OBSA could effectively improve their surgical operating skills (83.9%), collaborative learning skills (92.1%), and problem-solving skills (91.1%). From the above, OBSA is an effective evaluation method for the implementation of the BMLC curriculum.

[Influence of parameters of ZnS film on the organic/inorganic composite luminescence devices].

In the present paper, to fabricate electroluminescent devices CdSe QDs were used as active materials, TPD (N,N'-biphenyl-N,N'-bis-(3-methylphenyl)-1,1'-biphenyl-4,4'-diamine) was used as a hole transport layer, and ZnS was used as an electron transport layer. The electroluminescent properties of the organic/inorganic composite ITO/TPD/CdSe QDs/ZnS/Ag light emitting devices were studied. Both TPD and CdSe QDs thin films were spin-coated and ZnS thin films were deposited by magnetron sputtering. The surfaces of the devices are smooth. The luminescence (EL) peak of the CdSe QDs is at 580 nm which is assigned to the band-edge exciton emission. Compared to the previous EL device of ITO/ZnS/CdSe QDs/ZnS/Ag, it is seen that the new devices do not display surface state related emission peaks and EL intensity is about 10 folds that of the previous device. The enhancement of luminescence efficiency is attributed to both of the excitation of CdSe QDs by accelerated electron collision and carriers injection into QDs: (1) electrons are accelerated by the ZnS layer and collide with CdSe QDs, which excites electrons in QDs to excited states and allows them to emit photons; (2) the holes injected into QDs recombine with some of electrons excited in the QDs. The authors further studied the influence of thickness variation of ZnS on the luminescent properties. ZnS thin films are of 80, 120, and 160 nm thickness, respectively. It was found that as the thickness of ZnS increases the threshold voltage rises and EL intensity increases, but breakdown voltage decreases. The EL peak position blue shifts when the thickness of ZnS decreases. The explanation of underlying mechanism is given.

Targeted up-regulation of Drp1 in dorsal horn attenuates neuropathic pain hypersensitivity by increasing mitochondrial fission.

Mitochondria play an essential role in pathophysiology of both inflammatory and neuropathic pain (NP), but the mechanisms are not yet clear. Dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1) is broadly expressed in the central nervous system and plays a role in the induction of mitochondrial fission process. Spared nerve injury (SNI), due to the dysfunction of the neurons within the spinal dorsal horn (SDH), is the most common NP model. We explored the neuroprotective role of Drp1 within SDH in SNI. SNI mice showed pain behavior and anxiety-like behavior, which was associated with elevation of Drp1, as well as increased density of mitochondria in SDH. Ultrastructural analysis showed SNI induced damaged mitochondria into smaller perimeter and area, tending to be circular. Characteristics of vacuole in the mitochondria further showed SNI induced the increased number of vacuole, widened vac-perimeter and vac-area. Stable overexpression of Drp1 via AAV under the control of the Drp1 promoter by intraspinal injection (Drp1 OE) attenuated abnormal gait and alleviated pain hypersensitivity of SNI mice. Mitochondrial ultrastructure analysis showed that the increased density of mitochondria induced by SNI was recovered by Drp1 OE which, however, did not change mitochondrial morphology and vacuole parameters within SDH. Contrary to Drp1 OE, down-regulation of Drp1 in the SDH by AAV-Drp1 shRNA (Drp1 RNAi) did not alter painful behavior induced by SNI. Ultrastructural analysis showed the treatment by combination of SNI and Drp1 RNAi (SNI + Drp1 RNAi) amplified the damages of mitochondria with the decreased distribution density, increased perimeter and area, as well as larger circularity tending to be more circular. Vacuole data showed SNI + Drp1 RNAi increased vacuole density, perimeter and area within the SDH mitochondria. Our results illustrate that mitochondria within the SDH are sensitive to NP, and targeted mitochondrial Drp1 overexpression attenuates pain hypersensitivity. Drp1 offers a novel therapeutic target for pain treatment.

Analgesic Effect of Noninvasive Brain Stimulation for Neuropathic Pain Patients: A Systematic Review.

INTRODUCTION: The objective of this review is to systematically summarize the consensus on best practices for different NP conditions of the two most commonly utilized noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) technologies, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). METHODS: PubMed was searched according to the predetermined keywords and criteria. Only English language studies and studies published up to January 31, 2020 were taken into consideration. Meta-analyses, reviews, and systematic reviews were excluded first, and those related to animal studies or involving healthy volunteers were also excluded. Finally, 29 studies covering 826 NP patients were reviewed. RESULTS: The results from the 24 enrolled studies and 736 NP patients indicate that rTMS successfully relieved the pain symptoms of 715 (97.1%) NP patients. Also, five studies involving 95 NP patients (81.4%) also showed that tDCS successfully relieved NP. In the included studied, the M1 region plays a key role in the analgesic treatment of NIBS. The motor evoked potentials (MEPs), the 10-20 electroencephalography system (EEG 10/20 system), and neuro-navigation methods are used in clinical practice to locate therapeutic targets. Based on the results of the review, the stimulation parameters of rTMS that best induce an analgesic effect are a stimulation frequency of 10-20 Hz, a stimulation intensity of 80-120% of RMT, 1000-2000 pulses, and 5-10 sessions, and the most effective parameters of tDCS are a current intensity of 2 mA, a session duration of 20-30 min, and 5-10 sessions. CONCLUSIONS: Our systematically reviewed the evidence for positive and negative responses to rTMS and tDCS for NP patient care and underscores the analgesic efficacy of NIBS in patients with NP. The treatment of NP should allow the design of optimal treatments for individual patients.